Thread by @StolenValor1

A 🧵: Investigation Into Allegations Against Sgt. Maj. Chuck Ritter @Chuck_Ritter92

This thread is intended to shed some light on the allegations made against Sgt. Maj. Chuck Ritter(3rd SFG) last year in articles posted online. I was asked to do an independent review of the allegations and the evidence. This is the first thread after my initial review of this incident and the evidence I have collected.

Background:

Sgt. Maj. Chuck Ritter currently serves as the Deputy Commandant for the Army Special Operations Noncommissioned Officer Academy and was formerly the producer and host of the Special Warfare Center and School Podcast called Pineland Underground. Ritter has served in Army Special Forces in the 3rd Special Forces Group for over 17 years and in the Infantry for 3 years in Hawaii. He has an impressive record of 12 combat deployments to various locations such as Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.

Throughout his career, Ritter has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts for his bravery and service.

Sgt. Maj. Ritter has been under the spotlight recently due to various allegations made against him. These accusations stem from articles written about Ritter sexting the girlfriend of a fellow Soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Regeimbal, who was under his command during a 3rd Group deployment to Syria in 2019. This will be just a short update on what I have learned thus far concerning the allegations, the investigation that followed, and the evidence I have seen from several sources, including the Army's own investigation into those allegations. A longer update will be provided at a later date once I have completed a comprehensive review of all the available evidence.

I was asked to investigate the allegations made against @Chuck_Ritter92 in several articles posted online last year. The articles alleged that Ritter had been “sexting” with Regeimbal's wife, a Soldier Ritter had previously disciplined and sent home early from the Syrian deployment.

No, it does not involve Stolen Valor, but it does involve several Soldier's reputations and careers. I was asked as a 3rd party investigator with no ties to, or prior knowledge of the people involved in the allegations to review the evidence and give my opinion. I read the articles, interviewed several of the participants in the case, including Sgt. Maj. Ritter and the author of the original article that brought the allegations to light, and poured over gigabytes of information and evidence. Most of which has come to light after the articles in question were published.

Allegations of Sexting

After the group returned home from Syria, Ritter was at a popular local bar, O’Donnell’s in Aug. 2021. Regeimbal happened to also be there with his fiancé, a woman named Kate Leyen. While Regeimbal kept his distance, Kate was frustrated with the endless investigations into Regeimbal and confronted Ritter.

Ritter described the encounter, saying that a woman approached him at the bar making allegations about him trashing her fiancé in a group chat with other Special Forces soldiers, but that she did not have any proof to show him at the bar.

Regeimbal had been the subject of several investigations and was dismissed from his post in Syria by Ritter, which led to further tension between the two men.

Regeimbal would eventually lose his Special Forces Tab after the conclusion of the investigations. Regeimbal believed at the time that Ritter was behind the revoking of his Tab, increasing his hatred of Ritter.

The sexting allegations surfaced soon after Regeimbal was married to Kate. Kate reached out to Ritter claiming she was being "abused" by Regeimbal, and they had conversations to that effect over some time. She claimed that Regeimbal was being violent, and forcing his way into her house among other things.

Soon after these conversations, allegations were made online in several articles that Sgt. Maj. Ritter was having sexually explicit convos with Kate Leyen, Sgt. 1st Class Regeimbal's now-wife, including sending explicit photos. Which prompted the Army IG to open an investigation.

These allegations are what the articles printed by Connecting Vets and Daily Mail referred to. Regeimbal and his wife Kate reached out to the publications with their story. Kate turned over text messages and a voice call that she said proved the allegations against Ritter.

In the year since the posting of the articles and the allegations, the Army has since completed its investigation and found no wrongdoing on Sgt. Maj. Ritter's part. During the investigation, Kate admitted to the Investigating Officer that she set up a phone conversation, edited it to take it out of context, created false iPhone messages, and made up other parts of the story because she and her husband felt Ritter was responsible for her husband losing his Special Forces Tab.

A source familiar with the interview Leyen had with the military said she instantly became defensive and could not keep her story straight. “She was dancing around the questions to avoid answering them.” “It was very productive because it revealed some of the discrepancies in her story.” (Investigation Findings Attached)

In fact, Sgt. 1st Class Regeimbal has since come forward to confirm that the allegations were false and that the texts and calls were manipulated and fabricated by his wife Kate. “Kathryn has a long history of fabricating messages,” Regeimbal said. He knows this because, for over a year, he says Leyen was texting him as her father, who claimed Ritter was out to get him. That is why he believed Ritter was also trying to sleep with his wife.

I have been reviewing the mountain of evidence collected, including sworn statements by Sgt. 1st Class Regeimbal and other Soldiers, Video evidence showing the threats from Kate against Regeimbal, and evidence that Kate stated she "destroyed the Sgt. Maj's career". (Sworn Statement Attached)

I reached out to @JackMurphyRGR, who wrote one of the original articles and we spoke in depth about the situation, he provided the following comment:

"I wrote an article about an investigation that the Special Warfare Center was conducting which was sparked by allegations made by a member of the special forces community and his spouse about Sgt. Maj. Ritter. The article includes quotes from SWC, SF command, and Sgt. Maj. Ritter. Sometime after publication Sgt. Maj. Ritter communicated his intent to file a lawsuit. The company I work and write for instructed me to cease communication with Sgt. Maj. Ritter pending the lawsuit. The company I am employed by has always had a takedown or removal request process, and in my experience at the company, they are quite responsive to these requests. As of Dec. 16, 2023, I am not aware of any such request being submitted."

In my professional opinion, based on the evidence I have been provided by numerous sources, including the Army IG's investigation, Sworn Statements,
and other evidence, Sgt. Maj. Ritter was targeted maliciously and had evidence fabricated against him to smear his reputation by Kate and Sgt. 1st Class Regeimbal(who at the time believed the accusations to be true) and presented this false information to investigators and to reporters.

I will be providing a more in-depth response to this once I have finished reviewing all the available information but wanted to at least get this out here to shed some light on this issue, and hopefully right a few wrongs.

Here is some additional information on the situation from @Julio_Rosas11

https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1734234258875572415

@andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy would love to get your comments on this. Is this how we do journalism now? Not even a follow up to get facts straight and clear someone’s name? Asking for lots of friends…..Mrs.Anderson you didn’t even reach out to SGM Ritter nor his command for comment, yet in the article you stated you did.

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @Audacy @AudacyHelp has reached out to me via DM and are looking into this. Let’s hope they do the right thing. Next up is @DailyMailUK and @andersonatasha will they follow suit and right a wrong?

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp Since my conversation with @Audacy yesterday they have added an update to the article on SGM Chuck Ritter. @Chuck_Ritter92

audacy.com/connectingvets…

@DailyMailUK @DailyMail @MailOnline @andersonatasha
#journalism
#chuckritter

Are you going to do the right thing? A true journalist searches for the truth and posts factual information. Evidence shows you posted fabricated #evidence and misleading information. We are not going away.

@Reggie_send_it check DMs

With permission from the parties involved including @Chuck_Ritter92 @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake I am adding one of the many videos recorded of the incidents that have taken place with Kate who is a central character in this case.

This is one of the tamer videos. In the video SFC Regeimbal comes to his house to gather some of his things as they were contemplating divorce. Kate was not home when they initially arrived.

SFC Regeimbal and a friend are gathering some things from the home when Kate shows up with another guy, and he was not there to fix the AC.

SFC Regeimbal keeps his cool as he confronts the other man, who also happens to be a group guy. His mother is with him and records the incident to ensure things are properly documented.

According to SFC Regeimbal’s mother “Kate brought (name Omitted) there that night expecting my son to fight him. We believe she wanted to provoke a situation where my son went to jail for beating her new guy up. My son was very intentional about his behavior and wanted a video so she could not lie and say he did something he did not do.”

There are more videos that I have viewed that show a lot more incidents, and confrontations but cannot release at this time.

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake Oh yeah… “Warning Strong Language” 😂

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation Some asked if there was video… there is and it’s posted above.

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation Just a little more character reference. Tons more where this came from. This is the person that the publications that wrote articles got their fabricated “facts”’from.

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @DailyMailUK has added the same update to their articles as @Audacy did. Same word for word but will not retract their false article, even though the update admits it’s false. The update is small and can be easily missed in reference to the overall article itself.

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @mchooyah hits on the subject on his podcast tonight. Only on Spotify at the moment, should be up on YouTube soon. Starts talking about this issue at about 19:00

open.spotify.com/episode/24tKD6…

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @mchooyah Navy SEAL Rob O’Neil @mchooyah Podcast covering the @Chuck_Ritter92 situation is now live on YouTube. Thanks Rob for speaking with me about this and how important it is that we protect our own. #81 | Shot Show and Uranus

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @mchooyah Rob speaks about this subject at about the 17 minute mark.

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @mchooyah Seems @Chuck_Ritter92 received a Cease & Desist letter because of false and defamatory statements?? This cant be serious! I mean after @Julio_Rosas11 and my investigations, and me contacting both companies they placed updates on the articles admitting they were wrong.

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @mchooyah

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @mchooyah Our first victory!!!! @audacy has confirmed complete removal of the story about @Chuck_Ritter92! It no longer exists when you click the link! @DailyMailUK and @andersonatasha will you follow suit???

Congrats Chuck!!

audacy.com/connectingvets…

Daily Mail, You added another update to your story about SGM Ritter, but the original article yours is based on has now been removed because of the false information and allegations.

I think it’s now your turn to do the right thing, don’t you? As it is now based on something that no longer exists.

@DailyMailUK @MailOnline @andersonatasha

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @mchooyah The second part of the video posted by @NoCapFights

@Julio_Rosas11 @andersonatasha @DailyMail @DailyMailUK @Audacy @AudacyHelp @Chuck_Ritter92 @MailOnline @Reggie_send_it @pawbythelake @TheIOGuy @smcroasters @Snakeeater36 @FenixAmmunition @ChayaRaichik10 @RealDeanCain @Lead_Flinger @HotBrandMedia @Gruntstyle @HavokJournal @RealJamesWoods @TimKennedyMMA @Ranger_Up @PaulSzoldra @blckriflecoffee @therealroseanne @TheWTFNation @mchooyah @NoCapFights Adding the Gruntsyle Podcast to this thread.

https://twitter.com/stolenvalor1/status/1797040379243417981